Warsaw Modlin

[Vxracing16]

Hi,

Was just wondering how is this new airport coming along? is it on-track to make its deadline for its first flights in July?

Does anyone have any pictures?

I just don't want to book a flight with Ryanair if the airport is not finished and the flight is cancelled - such as Berlin Brandenburg :sad:

Cheers

Louis :D

[eu01]

The deadline is already met, look at the pictures: - terminal (most recent, official site) (http://www.modlinairport.pl/index/article/id/306/)
- earlier pics (official site) (http://www.modlinairport.pl/index/article/id/296/)
- diverse photos (unofficial site) (http://www.modlinlotnisko.pl/)

[rareair]

That's very.......... orange! Do you think they had a particular tennant in mind?

[LGS6753]

Looks as though Poland might be showing the Germans how to open an airport (Berlin Brandenburg anyone?)......

[jabird]

Looks as though Poland might be showing the Germans how to open an airport (Berlin Brandenburg anyone?)......

Not really, WMI was supposed to be open before the Euros if not before.

WMI is a very simple operation - a low cost shed at an old military base.

BER is effectively three airports (TXL, THF & SXF) rolled into one, immense local politics and huge cost long before the opening problems.

It will have two parallel runways with a midfield terminal and a station complex right underneath.

Although I'd love to visit the city of Warsaw, I have no interest in visiting WMI unless I fly with an airline that goes there. I love the city of Berlin, and relish the opportunity to go again through the new BER, once it is finally up and running.

[DublinPole]

Local Polish press now saying that the Airport has not got clearance for commercial flights at the moment and still waiting for the CAA in Poland to grant such certificate. Appears to be some doubt over the opening of the airport as the latest say they "hope" to get a certificate by Mid July, with flights starting 16th July it's going to be tight to say the least.

Story originally broke on 27th June:
http://modlinlotnisko.********.ie/2012/06/kopoty-z-certyfikatem-ulc.html

Latest from Friday still states the problem has not been resolved:
Modlin czeka na certyfikat lotniska u (http://plock.gazeta.pl/plock/1,35710,12081119,Modlin_czeka_na_certyfikat_lotniska_uzytku_ publicznego.html?)

Use translate.google.com to translate.

[Suzeman]

Not really, WMI was supposed to be open before the Euros if not before.

Whilst the the original plan 3 years ago was to have it ready for the football, it was realised a couple of years ago now that it would be unlikely to be ready as to do so would rush and cut corners. At the time the financing was not in place which could have caused a massive delay.

And they were well aware of the dangers of something coming up during commissioning a la Brandenburg or rushing the commissioning and ending up with a T5 like fiasco.

Hence they decided not to open for the Euros which may seem justified now bearing in mind the current state of their certification process. Therefore it was never declared as an airport to UEFA for EURO 2012 flights during their final evaluation of Polish airport facilities.

Latest news on some of the commissioning and testing of the terminal

Modlin: Dzie (http://www.pasazer.com/in-10956-modlin,dzien,otwarty,lotniska.php)

Dzie (http://www.pasazer.com/in-10984-dzien,otwarty,w,modlinie,na,rozowo.php)

Modlin na ostatniej prostej. Zd (http://www.pasazer.com/in-10987-modlin,na,ostatniej,prostej,zdazy.php)

Suzeman

[eu01]

The new Modlin airport has just been opened. Initially the first official flight was to be made by Ryanair tomorrow, then Wizz brought forward his first flight, scheduled to arrive from Budapest at 5 PM or so today. Finally, however, the airport's inauguration was carried by Ryanair, after all. This morning Boeing 737-8AS landed there as the extra flight carrying on board Micheal O'Leary himself.

Well, a fierce competition from the very beginning... :cool:http://g.gazetaprawna.pl/p/_wspolne/pliki/911000/911277-lotnisko-w-modlinie.jpg
Edit: And MOL did get his water-cannon salute greeting :ok: (image source: gazetaprawna.pl)
http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/gYEvwRmVKRZ1F_Wl9UG9kQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD02MTI7cT04NTt3PTQ2Mw--/http://media.zenfs.com/es/News/efe.es/20120715-634779623674499118w.jpg

[Charlie Roy]

Some teething problems :}

Modlin Airport has troublesome first day - Warsaw Business Journal - Online Portal - wbj.pl (http://www.wbj.pl/article-59810-modlin-airport-has-troublesome-first-day.html?typ=wbj)

[DaveReidUK]

By all accounts it can't possibly be as bad as the old Etiuda terminal at Okecie/Chopin.

[davidjohnson6]

I personally would never fly from a new airport on its first full day of operation unless absolutely essential or I had plenty of time to spare - it's impossible to test a new airport so completely that nothing goes wrong. That being said most people buying tickets will not nevessarily know when an airport is opening.

However if the worst that happened was 12 people missing their flight and being given a transfer to a later flight at the airport's expense then it seems like a very small hiccup for a first day of full scale commercial operations

[FougaMagister]

Starting operations from Modlin also involved a lot of work in unseen corners - such as ATC. Warsaw-Modlin was not on the map until recently (except as a light aircraft airfield) so new SID/STARs etc had to be designed and tested (plus instrument approach procedures). Traffic there increases the worlkoad at Warsaw APP to handle these arrivals and departures on top of the already fairly large traffic at Okecie. A bit similar to Paris-CDG APP handling Ryanair and Wizzair traffic in and out of Beauvais...

Cheers :cool:

[TBSC]

new set of SID/STARs etc had to be designed and tested (plus ILS etc.
instrument procedures).


Most probably ILS procedures were not too hard to design as there is no ILS in WMI at all (despite the promises/plans). :ugh::D:D
It's the usual Polish airport strategy: built as much/big terminals as you can and don't give a :mad: about how those aircraft will land. Not a single CAT III ILS in a country with a population of 40 million. Actually not even a CAT II ILS other than in WAW.
KRK, GDN, KTW, WRO, POZ, RZE, LCJ etc. are all CAT I. There was not even an approved LVP in KTW/GDN until 2011.

[TBSC]

And MOL did get his water-cannon salute greeting


As did this Global Express landed 3 weeks ago. The empty FR 737 was neither the first aircraft nor the first commercial flight in WMI.

http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/9357/54864437139280292776677.jpg

[Antek]

Does anybody know where to find details of surface transport at Modlin, particularly trains? The website looks to be a bit incomplete...

It seems that trains go to/from Warszawa Gdanska, but this is from second hand information.

Dziekuje

[DaveReidUK]

You've probably seen this already:

"(current situation)
There is a rail service between Modlin Airport and E-65 railway line connecting Warsaw and Gdańsk which, as provided by the European Agreement on Main International Railway Lines (AGC), is a part of the Paneuropean Transport Corridor No VI connecting the Polish sea border via Działdowo, Modlin, Warsaw with the southern border of Poland.

(future)
The Polish Railway Authority (PKP PLK S.A.) plans to modernize Modlin railway station and Warsaw East (Warszawa Wschodnia) Railway Station - Modlin railway line. There is a siding from Modlin railway station to the airport which, after modernization (widening, improvement of track parameters, connection of electric traction, construction of the station building and related infrastructure) will be used for passenger transport and cargo loading/ unloading. Thus, the airport will acquire a railway connection with Warsaw and, ultimately, Warsaw F. Chopin Airport. "

From Mazowiecki Port Lotniczy Warszawa-Modlin (http://www.modlinairport.pl/site/transport-service) (but dated 2007!)

Edit: found this on TripAdvisor from February this year (which you may also have seen):

"Transport from Modlin airport in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki will look more or less like this: there will be a shuttle bus between the airport and the Modlin train stop. From there, currently the train takes 45 minutes to get to Warszawa Gdańska station which is an interchange with the metro. Pole Mokotowskie is 5 stations away. However, there are supposed to be trains which won't stop at so many stations as the current trains, so that it will be no more than a 30 minutes train ride. There are also plans to open a new SKM line, from Chopin Airport to Modlin Airport, going through Central/Downtown stations. No details available as yet."

[eu01]

According to this source: jeziorki.blog spot.com/2012/07/modlin-airport-connected-by-rail-but.html (no space in blog spot word, but the entire url is being blocked here apparently) the rail link to/from Modlin rail station is functioning already (+ free bus ride to the airport).
As of Friday, 29 June, one can travel to Warsaw's new airport at Modlin by train. According to rozklad.pkp.pl, the service operates around the clock, which is useful, as check-in for WizzAir's popular 6:00 departure to 'London' Luton opens at 4am. The airport's press release (http://www.modlinlotnisko.********.com/2012/06/pociagiem-i-autobusem-kolei.html) mentions a bus service, coordinated with the train arrivals and departures, to take passengers on to the airport. There's a train arriving at Modlin station at 3:20 and the next at 3:51. A bit of an all-nighter then.

[FougaMagister]

Quote:

"Not a single CAT III ILS in a country with a population of 40 million. Actually not even a CAT II ILS other than in WAW".

While I totally agree that a CAT II ILS at another Polish airport is long overdue (since it would make the choice of weather diversion easier when flying to WAW), I fail to see the relation between having a population of 40 million and having a CAT III procedure. This should be a matter of meteorology, full stop. Even in Poland in winter, there are very few occasions when a CAT III ILS approach would be necessary. The cost of maintaining a CAT III - standard ILS probably exceeds the likely benefit. Plus remember that not all airlines train their crews to CAT III minima (for the few times when it proves necessary), or have aircraft certified to those limits.

Cheers :cool:

[TBSC]

Even in Poland in winter, there are very few occasions when a CAT III
ILS approach would be necessary.

:=

Unfortunately there are quite a lot of diversions, however it's not wintertime when it's bad but in spring/autumn.

Plus remember that not all airlines train their crews to CAT III minima (for the
few times when it proves necessary), or have aircraft certified to those limits.

We could use some CAT III runways with 13 aircraft based in Poland (all a/c and flight deck crew qualified for CAT IIIb)...

[DublinPole]

Do we know how the battle is going here at the moment? From what I have seen I can't see there being enough demand for the number of flights to some destinations with both carriers.

I was in Modlin last week and even for the four flights a day in London now numbers are not looking that good. The Ryanair flights, one a day seem to be running at very high load factors, and whilst Wizz are carrying more passengers than Ryanair a day because of the three flights the one flight a day that goes out the same time as FR seems to be struggling, looked to be about 50% if that load factor but the morning flight seems to be doing better. But then again when there is three flights a day the load is always going to spread thinner.

I can't see how it's going to be able to support 6-7 flights a day, it just won't be viable as far as I'm concerned. I reckon 5 flights a day at max are going to be tipping point for this route.I guess we will get to find out more when FR add the extra two flights a day who will really win the war on this route so to speak, but without doubt whilst FR's load factor on the London route is very good, it is only one flight a day compared to W6's three.

Oslo and Stockholm I get the impression for both carriers are struggling to some degree, as they always feature in the lowest fares, so here I can't see two operators being able to support the current frequency, they'll either have to reduce or one operator will have to pull out of the route.

[traduck]

Antek wrote: "Does anybody know where to find details of surface transport at Modlin, particularly trains..."
DaveReidUK wrote: "Transport from Modlin airport in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki will look more or less like this...."

I just flew to and from Modlin airport on Wizzair last week, and the shuttle/train was very easy. At Modlin you get on the shuttle bus which takes you in 8 minutes to the Modlin train station. There you catch the direct train which goes to all Warsaw stations (Wschodnia, Centralna, etc.). The train ride takes about 48 minutes. You can check train times on the Polish rail site: http://rozklad-pkp.pl/bin/query.exe/en?ld=s4&OK#focus
The combined ticket shuttle+train costs 12 PLN on the shuttle. If you book a Wizzair flight you can pre-book the combined ticket for 5 Euros. There are also various options at Modlin airport for a bus to Warsaw for 33 PLN, and taxis, etc.

[TBSC]

It didn't take long. First diversions happened this morning (W6 and FR) to WAW. W6 first wave departures delayed as well earlier for RVR/300 as there's no LVP available.

[jdcg]

Just returned from a great trip to Podlasie in Poland via Modlin. Only let down was the appalling airport. The Schengen departure gate is tiny with approx. 25 seats for what could be 189 passengers. Then 15 minutes before boarding and before the plane has even touched down, passengers are led out to a "holding pen" area and have to stand to wait there in the cold. I don't expect luxury padded seats or wall-to-wall cafes but I've been in much smaller airports that are infinitely more hospitable.

[davidjohnson6]

Sheep who are made to worship at the altar of short turnaround times ?

[Aero Mad]

Sheep worshipping at altars? Much too much metaphor-mixing for one day := Two things happen to sheep at the altar: they get their throats slit and then they get burnt.

Note: Any parellels to the situation at Modlin are, of course, entirely accidental.

[TBSC]

15+ flights diverted to WAW this week (WZZ and RYR). Some of them in 2-4000 m visibility for low ceiling. Lots of departure delays for low RVR & no LVP available. The CAT I. ILS promised to be operational in "october-november" (followed by CAT II. " in february-march") is eventually not even installed yet. Latest rumors says installation will start at the end of november which means that only non-precision approach will be available until (at least) the end of the year. :ugh:

If it goes on like this they will loose both airlines using WMI, I quess.

[LTNman]

Much of Poland’s recent infrastructure is being paid for by EU handouts. No doubt in part this airport has been paid for by British tax payers.

[eu01]

@LTNman.

What actually are you pertaining to? I have never been to Modlin and live far from both UK and Poland, but still find your post slightly offensive. Indeed, Modlin Airport did get € 17m grant contributed from EU funds through the Regional Operating Programme (source (http://www.routesonline.com/download/content/7793/warsaw-modlin-airport/)), just a small slice of it originating from Britain.

My opinion? Pretty reasonable amount of money very well spent. The bigger sums of EU tax payers' money paid for constructing some idle airports in Spain (just to give an example), could be mentioned as a far less successful investment.

[TBSC]

Much of Poland’s recent infrastructure is being paid for by EU handouts. No
doubt in part this airport has been paid for by British tax payers.


Much of UK's recent taxpayers are polish anyway...
At least it's used to supply Britain with baby sitters, bricklayers, plumbers and secretaries.

[TBSC]

Travel PR News | WIZZ AIR CALLS ON MODLIN AIRPORT TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ILS DELAY (http://travelprnews.com/wizz-air-calls-on-modlin-airport-to-take-responsibility-for-ils-delay-784938/travel-press-release/2012/11/30/)

[TBSC]

All Wizz flights will be moved from WMI to WAW between 17DEC-06JAN after recent disruptions for lack of ILS.

[CheekyVisual]

Have to say after the "fun" I've had in Poland this week including WMI, which I have a 0% success rate at landing at, I have to say it is about time the Poles stopped building their flashy new glass terminals and got their actual flying infrastructure sorted out. i.e. a few CAT 2/3 ILS systems on more than one end of the runway and resurface some of the ploughed fields they describe as runways.

[DublinPole]

CheekyVisual - there is a complex reasoning behind it - lets just say some allegedly believe that certain airports having certain infrastructure does not allegedly suit the interest of certain parties.

[maggot738]

And there was me thinking that I was the only one with a 0% success rate of landing at WMI. Polish routes and winter do not make for a nice days work. It's long overdue for the installation of a a few cat 111 ILS systems at Polish airports.

[TBSC]

The most succesful day brought 19 diversions (practically the whole traffic of the day) for "low" ceiling (with 1000+ visibility) - or at least I counted that much. I'm not a big fan of FR but it was painful to see 11 diversions, even ferry flights (WRO-WMI & WAW-WMI) of previously diverted aircraft diverted again to WAW...

[DublinPole]

The good thing about FR is rather than cancel flights, they try and operate them from other airports, and generally they'll always divert to the nearest airport pretty much all of the time as long as it's open.

Other, especially traditional carriers will just cancel the return flight if the outbound flight gets diverted to another airport or refuse to land anywhere other than a destination that is normally served by the airline.

As stated previously in another thread, it's pretty sensible for Wizz to move and they did the right thing, as pretty much all aircraft running routes from WMI are based there meaning one delay heavily hits the rest of the schedule at WMi as such plane is going to have to operate to a few destinations a day.

With FR with all the flights coming from other bases, they've been able to allow extra crews to pick up the later parts of some shifts rather than the originally scheduled crew that is being heavily delayed.

[TBSC]

Well, business as usual today. BVA is already cancelled, NYO, CIA and BCN flights diverted to WAW. 1600m vis with OVC005...

[DublinPole]

Beuvais is being hit by a strike which has forced a number of cancellations.

The problems at Modlin at the moment are snow related which is being cleared from the runway but is quite heavy apparently. There are also (again) problems with WAW who are saying they can take very few diversions at the moment.

Wizz and FR have had such problems ever since the start of the winter with WAW being less than accommodating for diverted flights even though that airport is nowhere near full and has plenty of extra capacity even after W6 have moved there.

It's likely that there could be some diversions to Lodz this afternoon, however due to weather conditions road transport is said to be taking much longer so I would not be surprised if there were some cancellations later.

[TBSC]

There was no significant snow today in Warsaw, only -SN for 20-30 mins in the afternoon. All diverted FR flights approached WMI and went around at DH for low ceiling before proceeding to WAW/LCJ.

Regarding WAW refusing diversions: not a single Wizz flight was refused by them despite on some days 10-12 flights were operated from Okecie.

[DublinPole]

There was not snow for that long but snow there was that effected the area, although Chopin got off better than Modlin when it comes to this.

I know for a fact that Wizz had some flights that were not permitted to either operate from WAW or land there (which were cancelled) and Ryanair certainly have had the same which has meant they've gone to Lodz although I'd expect WAW to be more accommodating of Wizz because they stand a chance of winning their custom when Ryanair would never go back there having been absent for many years.

On a completely unrelated topic, the ILS debate indeed is a big debate there right now, but for Modlin to ever fulfill it's potential and to stop problems like this in the future, I strongly believe that it needs to have independent ownership.

Some would say the lack of ILS at Modlin suits some people down to the ground, after all there are certain people who would lose out if the airport ran 100% smoothly. There are two obvious parties, which I won't name.

[Vxracing16]

Just been watching flightradar, and flight FR2283 went around at 400 feet. Looks like it is diverting to Lodz.

I visited Warsaw last month, and used Ryanair's service from London Stansted (£16 return!). We were not convinced that the aircraft would land in Modlin, the fog was terrible. However we did land, which was a shame

Was hoping for a diversion into Chopin airport, save the 50 minute bus journey :uhoh:

[DublinPole]

Modlin Airport closed until at least 1st January 2013 due to runway issue confirmed in last hour.

Unsure of what is happening with FR flights, mostly going to Lodz at the moment but that is starting to fill up very quickly and can't accept more than a handful of diversions.

Remains to be seen what happens after that and in days to come. WAW of course is an option but for reasons earlier mentioned I can't see them being able to use it that much.

[eu01]

NOTAM A7311/12
A7311/12 NOTAMN
Q) EPWW/QMRLC/IV/NBO/A /000/999/5227N02039E005
A) EPMO B) 1212221535 C) 1212312359 EST
E) RWY 08/26 CLSD.
CREATED: 22 Dec 2012 15:35:00
SOURCE: EUECYIYN
The runway closed by the General Office of Building Control due to its insufficient quality (construction faults). Kind of disgrace, apparently.

[DublinPole]

Ryanair have issued a statement

Ryanair was advised by Warsaw Modlin airport at 15:00 hrs today (22 Dec) of an indefinite runway closure for safety reasons.

This runway closure will cause significant flight delays, diversions and possible cancellations and Ryanair intends to divert all Warsaw flights, where possible, to Warsaw Chopin airport, until 24:00hrs Thursday 27 Dec.

Ryanair is seeking further information and details about the cause of this runway closure from Modlin airport. Until such time as Modlin airport advises that the runway has reopened, Ryanair intends to operate all flights to/from Warsaw Chopin airport.

All passengers booked to travel between the 22-27 December 2012 should go directly to Warsaw Chopin Airport

Passenger’s boarding passes from Modlin flights can be used for flights now operating from Warsaw Chopin Airport

An email and SMS has been sent to all affected passengers detailing other rebooking/refund options if required.

Ryanair apologises sincerely for any delays or inconvenience caused by this unexpected runway closure.

Full details of updates, delays and/or cancellations will be published on the “Live Flight Information” page on the Ryanair.com website.

Lets hope that all parties work together and make sure that people are not disrupted.

[EI-A330-300]

One would think Wizz were expecting this to happen. Would somebody of reported it to General Office of Building Control?

Anyone think that Wizz will remain at Warsaw if they can agree a deal. One thing is for sure it will be very costly for Ryanair and they have said that flights are being sold very very low.

[DublinPole]

One would think Wizz were expecting this to happen. Would somebody of reported it to General Office of Building Control?

I would hope that was not the case. If there was a defect it should have been reported, investigated straight away and closed if necessary.

Anyone think that Wizz will remain at Warsaw if they can agree a deal. One thing is for sure it will be very costly for Ryanair and they have said that flights are being sold very very low.

Flights are being sold for very low by both carriers to be quite honest, and Ryanair can withstand that for a lot longer than Wizz would be able to. FR are cash rich and have billions in the bank, Nobody still knows what the Wizz financial situation is as they don't publish their accounts, they just claim they had their best year last year, whatever that means.

In the first few months of WMI Wizz load factor was a decent bit higher than FR but during the first three months the gap got smaller and smaller. Since October FR has been carrying a good number of more passengers but the airport has stopped releasing average load factors so it's hard to work out exactly who is ahead since Ryanair run more weekly flights.

However it may well be beneficial for W6 to move to WAW, as this is a central airport which gives them an edge over FR. There is no doubt that FR has took a decent sized chunk of the W6 market share in the last few months, but I haven't seen any statistics on load factor to see who is winning on each particular route.

[EI-A330-300]

It was reported recently that Wizz made a profit of around 60 million last year. Not bad if correct but you expect better from a loco but then the market area served would not be the richest area of Europe. Wizz are not so dependent on sun routes like FR so if FR had the same level of sun routes as Wizz there profits would be a lot lower.

[DublinPole]

Do you have a source for that? They continually claim they are profitable but when they are asked to show the numbers they go very quiet and start banding phrases around but not actually mentioning any figures so until they start backing up their statements I'll be skeptical.

They claimed up until middle of 2009 they were profitable for several years when Sky Europe were on their knees. But the only accounts published to date, until mid 2009 showed that they had never made a profit and had actually made a loss in that year and had to put the repayments of debt back a few years.

I'm sure that their financial figures have improved since then without doubt, but how much is open to debate, if they are as good as you say, why not just be open about them, they're nothing to be ashamed of. Just making generic statements such as 'best year ever' and 'large profits' can mean anything, especially given what happened in 2009.l

I'd say this year has been fairly tough for them though, as it's the first time they've had any real competition from FR, up until this year the two companies kept away from each others turf.

[FougaMagister]

Modlin's problems are not entirely unexpected.

1/ Construction and commission of the new airport were rushed, with associated consequences
2/ Little regard was paid to local weather conditions, with the site being prone to fog due to proximity of the river Vistule (Wisla) - as any local inhabitant would tell you
3/ The short timeframe always looked tight regarding installation and calibration of a CAT I/II ILS
4/ Modlin's Warsaw Pact-style runway was made of concrete slabs. Simply laying asphalt/tarmac on top of these (while quick and relatively cheap) does not prevent subsidence. What about the original runway's PCN? I suspect Ryanair's 737-800s and Wizzair's A320s are heavier than anything that operated on the original runway before...

Methinks Wizzair will try to return to WAW, leaving WMI (if and when it eventually reopens) with only 1 Customer airline: Ryanair.

This debacle, along with the lack of CAT II (or III) approaches except on WAW's runways 11 and 33, does not paint a very serious image of Polish aviation infrastructure or forward thinking.

Cheers :cool:

[DublinPole]

Latest Update:
Ryanair intends to divert all Warsaw flights, where possible, to Warsaw Chopin airport, until 24:00hrs Thursday 3 Jan 2013.

All passengers booked to travel between the 22/12/12 - 03/01/2013 should go directly to Warsaw Chopin Airport

[Jamie2k9]

Cracks on the runway and the airport will be closed a lot longer than a few days I expect. Can't see its opening until its rebuild (1000m of it anyway), a quick fix won't solve the problem.

[STN Ramp Rat]

how much EU money has been wasted on this project? I would love the answer to be none but I suspect that this is not the case

[rutankrd]

And your point ?

EU infrastructure development funds are available to all projects that bother to apply including the UK !

The issue is NOT with the funding but clearly with the local project management and cost CUTTING !

It looks like pave weights have been under estimated .

Claims should ultimately be levied against private contractors !

[rutankrd]

Want some numbers

€65 million came from EU funds

Further €11.5 million from local funds.

[FougaMagister]

... plus any UK contribution would be minimal, bearing in mind the British rebate to the EU budget.

Cheers :cool:

[alm1]

Wizz Air just sent an email that Modlin flights will continue to operate from WAW till at least 31 March, 2013.

Wonder how long will Ryanair will bare high costs of WAW before starting to cancel flights to Warsaw. I think they cannot expect to be compensated for so long - I think Modlin will not have such money.

[TBSC]

Most probably it will be closed until May. Not only the surface must be replaced (on a good 1000 m of the runway) but the whole thing 26 cm deep. Works will start in March which will be followed by another "quick" inspection by the authorities.

[FRatSTN]

Are Wizzair going to Warsaw-Chopin (WAW) permanently now? All flights until the end of the summer season are now bookable to/from WAW.

Ryanair has all flights bookable to/from WAW until 30 April before going back to WMI from 1 May. I'd expect that maybe to be delayed again but seems FR is still committed to returning to WMI. Not so sure about W6 now.

[Jack1985]

Are Wizzair going to Warsaw-Chopin (WAW) permanently now? All flights until the end of the summer season are now bookable to/from WAW.

It could be a perfect excuse for Wizz to transfer their operation to Warsaw-Chopin, they seem to be trying to swap routes at the moment to primary airports in-order to compete with Ryanair e.g. Glasgow Intl, Milan-Malpensa.

[j636]

From Wizz Air website:

Please be informed that all Wizz Air Warsaw flights will operate to/from Warsaw Chopin airport (WAW) until 26 October.

Thank you for your understanding.

Could mean two things:
1 - Wizz want to move back, trying to get a better deal at WAW than they had.
2 - Airport to remained closed until 26 October and Ryanair havn't updated there site.

[DublinPole]

The airport is unlikely to open until at least November at this point, but it could be December or even 2014 at this point according to what you believe.

The Wizz agreement with Chopin, according to some respected Polish language sites, has a clause that should Modlin open before the 26th October they will switch back earlier than this date. Both airlines it would seem are committed to returning to WMI when it (eventually) reopens.

Ryanair are no doubt going to extend their presence too, they most likely want to understand how long it will be best to do so. Ryanair were first to extend with Wizz following a few days later on some occasions, the opposite on others.

I doubt either carrier is particularly happy about it since for the airline it would be much more expensive to operate at WAW. Sure Wizz operated there before, but when they did so they had no competition from FR. The competition has pushed Wizz prices down and FR has been selling tickets at very low prices too so I doubt either airline was on a high margin at Modlin, let alone at Chopin.

[eu01]

The airport is up and running. Well, just one or two charter flights landed there so far, but never mind, it's ready. And... Wizzair opted out.
Ryanair first decided to return in September, now it has revoked its decision.
Anybody else?
Ryanair confirmed [on 23 July] it would continue to operate its Warsaw flights to/from Warsaw Chopin Airport for the entire summer 2013 season in order to provide certainty to all Ryanair passengers travelling to/from Warsaw.
All Ryanair flights scheduled to fly to/from Warsaw Modlin will operate to/from Warsaw Chopin until 26th October.And the reason is here:Ryanair is currently in discussions with Warsaw Modlin Airport and any further updates will be published on the Ryanair.com website.Negotiating, huh?:rolleyes: Presumably something like: "pay us for flying there or you'll be left with an empty airport". Anyway, MOL is expected to come to Warsaw to put it in more concrete words.

[Geo2014]

October 2014 : I've just travelled Ryanair (Stansted/Modlin) and Modlin Airport is compact and totally serviceable.


The Modlin bus runs non-stop from the airport to Warsaw where it terminates at the Palace of Science and Culture. The journey takes around 45 mins.


Three things I'd suggest :


buy your ticket online before you leave home as it's cheaper (you could save up to £5.00 per ticket). If you buy in advance and online it could cost as little as 6 zlotys for a one-way ticket, compared to (up to) 33 zlotys if you buy on arrival at Modlin Airport,
confirm the return Warsaw/Modlin timetable when on the bus FROM the airport as the timetable on the Bus website is not always accurate, and
make sure you book the return ticket in advance as the seat numbers are limited so don't always expect to just turn up and walk onto a particular bus without booking a seat in advance.



The bus service is excellent and a lot cheaper than a taxi. The service from the Airport is scheduled to match with airport arrivals.

[DublinPole]

Expansion of Warsaw Modlin Airport was blocked by PPL, Owners of Warsaw Chopin Airport today as the issues between Ryanair and PPL once again come to a head in a battle that has been going on the best part of a decade on and off.

Last week Ryanair reported PPL to the European Commision over unfair treatment at Chopin Airport as they experienced heavy delays in transporting passengers by bus and were being handed parking spots that were furthest away from terminal. Ryanair moved some flights to Chopin and was preparing to move more because of the lack of space at Modlin which PPL was dragging it's heels on expanding.

PPL made a statement last week saying that they didn't want Ryanair flying at Chopin Airport and PPL have been reported to the EU on a number of occasions in relation to what Ryanair deemed as unfair treatment and favourtism to LOT.

The Two local authorities and the Millitary Property agency, the other shareholders in Modlin have approved the plan but PPL rejected it and therefore since the rules of the airport require all 4 shareholders to agree, expansion won't be happening.

PPL have however said that they will be willing to finance in full and approve the expansion if the other shareholders sell out to them and that they operate Modlin Airport as a duel airport strategy with Chopin Airport, large price rises to fees, remove incentives for Ryanair to grow traffic and reduce Ryanair traffic at the airport and there is speculation that they will reconfigure the airport to one that is not designed as a low cost airport.

It is really a shame that PPL are involved in Modlin Airport, they continually frustrate development of the airport and are more interested in protecting Chopin Airport and the carriers there than having an airports set-up that meets the needs of all of the citizens of Warsaw and the wider country. If they had their way, I doubt the airport would have been built at all but when the local authorities got EU funding they couldn't avoid it.

[Charlie Roy]

It's a crazy state of affairs! What's even more insane is the talk of THIRD airport for Warsaw!

There is a real need for an intervention, and the EU is the best candidate to intervene. Here's hoping...

[racedo]

It is really a shame that PPL are involved in Modlin Airport, they continually frustrate development of the airport and are more interested in protecting Chopin Airport and the carriers there than having an airports set-up that meets the needs of all of the citizens of Warsaw and the wider country. If they had their way, I doubt the airport would have been built at all but when the local authorities got EU funding they couldn't avoid it.

EU could intervene on a number of counts
1.) Direct subsidy to LOT by actions of PPL
2.) Anti competitive actions of PPL against specific airlines.

With 30% Market share in Poland, Ryanairs presence will not be easily shrunk.

[DublinPole]

It's a crazy state of affairs! What's even more insane is the talk of THIRD airport for Warsaw!

There is a real need for an intervention, and the EU is the best candidate to intervene. Here's hoping...

This is moving quite fast now, PPL have now also blocked a €15m bond from a Polish bank agreed by other shareholders to pay for some work in the terminal and also to repair taxiways so repairs cannot be made. The chairman of the airport supervisory board and the local authority says this may require the airport to be closed by the civil aviation authority on safety grounds (some suggest it is a tactic to force the other shareholders to sell up)

The other thing of note that the CEO of PPL also stated that they will not pay Ryanair to serve the airports in Warsaw, but the way it was worded was that it was specifically Ryanair they would not pay, not airlines in general which if correct wouldn't surprise me

Most of the analysis I've read suggests running Modlin and Chopin as a duopoly is simply a holding pattern until the new big airport in Warsaw is created when both will be closed down for the new big airport which will pretty much return the status quo as it was before Modlin was opened.

It's absloutely vital that Modlin does not come under the ownership of PPL but at the moment Ryanair are snookered - They're having awkward treatment in Chopin, PPL are blocking expansion of Modlin unless they get full control and then they will almost certainly make large changes.

[racedo]

Targeting one company means lots of lawyers will be rich.

EU will be intervening and it could get costly.

Dawn Raids are a EU way to digging detail for anti Competitive behaviour........... basically for senior management they can even go through the laundry basket in your house to see if hiding stuff.

[DublinPole]

They will argue it's not that though and saying they just want to make Modlin Airport more viable and that Ryanair's rates are not sustainable and to reduce the overcrowding at Chopin Airport and they are just trying to be fair to all carriers and to take the pressure off Chopin Airport which PPL are apparently going to close during certain hours in the future and want Modlin to take some of the strain.

The issue of capacity at Chopin Airport is a curious one, about 10 years ago they built a new terminal, T2. Then they closed T1 and refuribshed it and everything was then defined as the same terminal but parts of the old T1 are unused now. Also we've often heard the "no space" argument in the last 3-4 years when some airlines have talked about expanding but others have been able to expand without issue.

Worth noting is that there were incentives for new routes to serve Chopin Airport that were quite loose before Ryanair went back there, they were tightened up a little after and a lot of pre-conditions were put in that wouldn't effect many airlines much but would effect Ryanair. There was also talk of incentives being offered only for airlines that useed air bridges but I don't know if this actually happened in the end.

[racedo]

Worth noting is that there were incentives for new routes to serve Chopin Airport that were quite loose before Ryanair went back there, they were tightened up a little after and a lot of pre-conditions were put in that wouldn't effect many airlines much but would effect Ryanair. There was also talk of incentives being offered only for airlines that useed air bridges but I don't know if this actually happened in the end.


Polish Govt may find other countrys apply same thing with LOT who are introducing new services from Hungary to the US.

https://www.reuters.com/article/airlines-iata-lot-poland/lot-polish-airlines-ceo-says-can-grow-without-an-investor-idUSL8N1J302M

It won't get any more Govt funding either.

Attempts to close out Ryanair are doomed to fail.

Though love the idea they are introducing more seats from Poland to UK....... they offer so few now that any increase will be a big %.

[DublinPole]

There's also some debate in Poland now that rules should be changed when it comes to voting for such modernisation of the airport so that one shareholder cannot block something like this when those who have 70% of the airports shares want it to go ahead.

There is now said to be serious concern over the condition of the taxiways and even some reports that the airport could be closed before the end of the year as the management are being prevented from accessing funds to repair the taxiways.

[Tom!]

Looks like the row with PPL has escalated, all domestic services to WAW (except SZZ) to end on 28/10 unlike at the end of the end of the winter schedule as first announced.

[1sky]

Ryanair are also cancelling a bunch of other non-Polish flights on 28/10 so I am not sure the PPL issue is the only reason.

[racedo]

They have cancelled domestic routes in UK as well.................

Could be a Pilot issue or something else.

[DublinPole]

The issue with some of the facilities at the airport and the infrastructure is now said to deteriorated further and now there is even more belief that it could be closed down before the end of the year as the board continue to be blocked from resolving the issue as PPL prevents and blocks them from raising finance, taking loans and other operational decisions despite PPL not having a majority shareholding.

PPL have repeated that the only way they will fund the airport or approve the actions of the board is in conjunction with a new business plan and majority ownership of the airport and for it to be operated as a duopoly along with Chopin Airport. They claimed that the other shareholders are risking the airports future by turning down their offers but the other shareholders are unhappy with the offers made by PPL.

PPL have this week suggested that they are getting tired of the impasse and if Modlin do not agree to sell up they will simply build another new airport in Warsaw which they would almost certainly be the sole share-holders, possibly with other parts of the Polish State or using Radom Airport as a new Warsaw area airport to act as a competitor to Modlin.

On the face of it, the threat to build another airport to compete with Modlin, may well be yet another tactic in order to try and intimidate the shareholders to sell up by giving them the feeling if they don't sell up, PPL will find another way to regain their stranglehold on airports in Warsaw by competing directly against Modlin.

Either way, PPL have made it clear that they are unhappy with the conditions and terms that Ryanair fly on and would like this changed as they view Modlin as simply an airport for Ryanair rather than an airport in its own right.

[DublinPole]

Latest is that PPL are considering investing in Radom and making it a new airport for the Warsaw region.

They are also investigating the possibility of terminating the Ryanair contract with Modlin before it expires in 2023 as if that happens and a new one with much higher fees in put in place they may re-consider helping Modlin.

translated from Polish:
http://www.pasazer.com/news/36614/modlin,obnizy,oplaty,dla,nowych,linii.html

The agreement with Ryanair, which guaranteed a degressive passenger rate, was signed by the airport authorities for 10 years and was valid until 2023. PPL, the administrator of Chopin Airport and the owner of about one third of Modlin's shares, however, proposed to terminate this agreement - Like everyone in Modlin, the unanimity of the shareholders is needed. It is not known whether you can change your basic passenger rate without violating the terms of the contract with Ryanair.

[DublinPole]

PPL continue to say that no finance can be raised by other shareholders to pay for maintenance or resolutions passed without their approval and their approval is conditional on acquiring at least 50.01% ownership of the airport

The Mazowieckie Voivodeship which owns a third of the shares in Modlin is now looking to alternatives that would mean that PPL is no longer involved with the airport, this includes buying PPL shares itself perhaps in conjunction with some external private investors.

The problem is that such arrangement would have to be approved by all investors apart from PPL, one of which is the Military property agency who ultimately is accountable to the Polish Minister for Defence, who would most likely side with PPL on this.

If the issue is not resolved soon, it is likely that the Airport Management will take PPL to court on the basis that s shareholder is acting in a way which is to the detriment of the company and therefore should have it's voting rights suspended.

[DublinPole]

Moving very fast now, Ryanair says if Modlin is not expanded they will start to move flights to Chopin Airport even if Chopin Airport does not want them there at extremely low prices regardless of the fees that they are charged by PPL in order to operate.

This appears to be a direct threat to undermine LOT at the airport and force PPLs hand, since many people believer the impasse and frustration of expansion and investment at Modlin caused by PPL is to protect LOT at the main airport.

Considering Ryanair's cash reserves it's not beyond the possibilities that they could use them and dig their heels in and wage a long battle against LOT and PPL at Warsaw's main airport.

[1sky]

Thanks for all these updates, most interesting!

[Tom!]

I hope it also means restarting domestic services from WRO and GDN to WAW next summer schedule!

[DublinPole]

Administracyjnie Chopina si? nie opró?ni - Pasazer.com (http://www.pasazer.com/news/36735/administracyjnie,chopina,sie,nie,oprozni.html)

Latest is that PPL now believe they may have a way to remove all low cost carriers from Chopin airport, coupled with PPL blocking expansion or maintenance work of Modlin unless they get full ownership of which they would almost certainly make it just run the same as Chopin this would hugely benefit legacy carriers, of which LOT is the largest one in Warsaw.

I cannot see domestic flights returning to Chopin Airport next summer unless something changes, the gap between Ryanair and PPL is far too much at the moment, there are various complaints in progress about how Ryanair felt they were treated there and PPL have said they don't want them in Chopin and they don't want them to have so many flights in Modlin.

Realistically what is needed for the EU to intervene if they have any grounds to do so or PPL to sell their shareholding in Modlin but honestly they're never going to do that because their shareholding in Modlin is essentially allowing them to control the whole flight and airline industry for the whole of Warsaw going forward.

Biggest beneficiary of the current situation is LOT, the pax certainly are not beneficiaries.

[1sky]

Administracyjnie Chopina si? nie opró?ni - Pasazer.com (http://www.pasazer.com/news/36735/administracyjnie,chopina,sie,nie,oprozni.html)

Latest is that PPL now believe they may have a way to remove all low cost carriers from Chopin airport

How exactly could they do that?

[DublinPole]

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=pl&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pasazer.com%2Fnews%2F36735%2Fadministracy jnie%2Cchopina%2Csie%2Cnie%2Coprozni.html&edit-text=

It's hard to achieve but possible.

There was previous a special low cost part of Chopin Airport which was closed down when Easyjet and Ryanair especially started to get a fair share of the pie which resulted in both of EZY and FR pulling out which is the reason Modlin was built, all be it after many delays.

If it wasn't for the perseverance of the local authorities and the Military, Modlin would probably never have been built and there were many attempts to frustrate it's building and expand it and then you have had various other issues that have cropped up since it's opened.

Modlin is in desperate need of total independence from the state.

[TBSC]

then you have had various other issues that have cropped up since it's opened.


Even before it opened. The military was wise enough to built a runway not into the prevailing wind direction, next to a huge friggin river and swamps causing frequent low visibility. Obviously the ILS was not ready by the time the airport was opened for commercial traffic, later the airport bought one which was not approved by PANSA. Wizz was moving its Warsaw operation back to WAW due to the continuous weather-related disruptions when (2 days later) the cracks were discovered in the runway surface causing a long airport closure eventually.
PANSA (Polish Air Navigation Services Agency) is working as it was still communism in Poland. They are responsible for all ILSs (not the airports), and the ATC (continuous staff shortages and stupid IT system "improvement" decisions). All airports are in beef with them as they delay ILS upgrades (while airports are building runways/terminals and other facilities to cope with the every-increasing traffic). They needed 12 months ro repair the ILS of KTW when the Air Europe 737 destroyed some lights/antennas on landing; they frantically oppose any "countryside" airports having CAT III as long as the mighty WAW does not have one; in POZ and GDN they wanted to perform ILS maintenance/upgrades in November (when it's needed the most) etc. Btw WAW have a CAT III-capable ILS for nearly a year now but it's NOTAMed CAT II as the authorities does not approve CAT III operations for being "too dangerous" (WTF??). It took until 2016 to have CAT II ILS in WRO, GDN, LUZ and KTW. POZ is still CAT I (as is KRK I believe) and the 5th largest EU-country with a population of 39 million does not have a single CAT III runway in 2017.

[DublinPole]

Of course, there were mistakes made with Modlin, but you have to bear in mind the kind of situation that the management of that airport have had to deal with when you have Polish State Airports owning just over 30% but able to veto any resolution even if the other 70% vote for it and fully owns the shares in the other airport in the city of which the states own airline is the biggest customer.

It'll be interesting to see how Wizz get treated in coming years at WAW, bearing in mind the fact WAW recently volunteered to restrict night time flights to reduce noise, which would hit Wizz far more than anyone else, the recent discussion about capacity issues and placing restrictions on low cost carriers and the complaint that Ryanair claim to have made to the EC in relation to what they believe was unreasonable delay on their domestic flights and being allocated parking slots as far away from the terminal as possible.

There's even talk of building another airport in Warsaw right now just purely by the state although it remains to be seen if that is just some kind of trick to try and force the hands of other parties, since it would really make no financial sense to block Modlin expansion then fund a new airport from scratch or use Radom/Lodz which would be far more costly although there'd obviously be other non financial reasons for this.

As for the other airports, Yep, there's been problems there as well and honestly most of them have been held back at some point or other by PANSA and others and the whole running of aviation in Poland doesn't come across as the best and all seems rather too much geared towards WAW and the other airports are left neglected or get sidelined and are much of an afterthought.

Realistically I cannot see anything changing. I would quite like for all the airports to be totally independent of the state and airports that are close to each other to be totally independent of each other, that would benefit both Wizz and Ryanair. That's a pipe dream though, it'd stop all the things that are going on at the moment in Warsaw.

[davidjohnson6]

What's the political opinion of the Polish Government around all of this ? Is there an urge to privatise companies which are substantially owned by the state (i.e. similiar to Thatcher in the 1980s in the UK) or does the Govt regard ownership of airports as a critical industry which is best owned by the state ?

[eu01]

The Polish Government... isn't it yet another example of the nationalism on the rise and various slanting views spreading in Europe and in fact globally as well?

[DublinPole]

The government after the last election is more conservative, eurosceptic nationalist and protectionist than the last, that is for sure, the previous was more moderate.

[DublinPole]

There is now growing conflict between the Polish State Airports and Modlin Airport and at this stage many believe that the airport is on life support and it will be a surprise if it can hold on for much longer

The Local authorities have accused the Polish State of forcing the airport into serious financial problems and loss of financial liquidity by blocking any votes on infrastructure repairs, changes or taking out additional loans.

http://www.pasazer.com/news/37468/narasta,konflikt,miedzy,ppl,em,a,modlinem.html
Continuation of this state of affairs, ie blocking ​​necessary financial and investment projects in the company is a real threat to its smooth operation, including falling into serious financial problems and loss of financial liquidity, and consequently bankruptcy proceedings and recovery of funds obtained by the company EU. the Mazovia Province self-government, whose financial involvement in the launch of the Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki airport is currently around PLN 400 million (in various forms), can not accept a situation in which one of the company's shareholders leads to the wasting of several hundred million public money allocated to a public major the goal, i.e. the extension of the airport in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki - the voivodship argues.

Until now, we have expressed the conviction that all shareholders of Mazowiecki Port Lotniczy Warszawa - Modlin Sp. z oo depends on its development and all its shareholders will support the company's rational ventures. We hereby declare that the self-government of the Mazovia Province will take all economic and legal steps to ensure the further development of the airport in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki - the report authors announce.

At the same time, the voivodship is of the opinion that if the State Enterprise "Airports" is not interested in the further existence and development of the Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki airport, it should resell its shares to other shareholders or a third entity guaranteeing the development of the airport - we read in the statement.

The end aim of this I guess is for PPL to have full control over all airports in the Warsaw region by one way or another - the fact that Modlin is likely to close and hundreds of million zloty will most likely go down the drain to achieve this, is a complete disgrace.

[DublinPole]

Administracyjnie Chopina si? nie opró?ni - Pasazer.com (http://www.pasazer.com/news/36735/administracyjnie,chopina,sie,nie,oprozni.html)

Latest is that PPL now believe they may have a way to remove all low cost carriers from Chopin airportHow exactly could they do that?

Meanwhile there is also an attempt to push Wizz out of Chopin Airport and to Radom as Chopin Airport claim that they may no longer be able to support quick turnarounds since they want to focus on interlinking traffic.

Wizz CEO has hit out at this as well and claimed that it's favoritism to LOT
https://www.fly4free.pl/wywiad-jozsef-varadi-wizz-air/

But do you feel that Wizz Air is welcome at Chopin Airport at all? First, there was a surprising decision to enter the night silence, announced when you already had an approved flight schedule for the summer season. Now, loud lines such as Wizz are said to have to move.

The introduction of the quiet night was a surprise and made us have to make changes in our network of connections. As for the general situation, I will repeat that we are connected with Chopin Airport. We see, however, that the situation is changing a bit towards protectionism and supporting the national carrier. Fortunately, there are important contracts that both parties must follow. Recent decisions are of a political nature, but let us remember that our passengers who want to fly from the Chopin Airport are also voters.

In your opinion, do these moves mean support and favoring LOT?
It's probably obvious.

This is the kind of thing the EU needs to step in to.

[DublinPole]

Just in case you had any doubts about what the whole saga is about

State owned LOT Polish Airlines filed today a notification to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection regarding the abuse of a dominant position by the Modlin airport - which could potentially lead to a massive fine / costly battle for Modlin Airport,

Modlin is currently being starved of cash due to issues with state owned Polish Airports Enterprise (PPL) which fully owns Chopin Airport but as a 30% shareholder in Modlin is blocking any attempt to expand the airport, raise finance or carry out any repair works at the airport unless other shareholders sell out to it.

Many believe that the latest actions are another example of the determination of several parties to achieve their aim by any means necessary, as described on pasazer.com, The moment the complaint is filed by LOT is also not accidental. The complaint against Modlin is part of a larger political plan.

In addition as mentioned yesterday there are moves underway which according to the Wizz Air CEO are attempts to push Wizz and other low cost carriers out of Chopin Airport and to Radom Airport.

[DublinPole]

As expected, Ryanair has now made a complaint to the European Commission's Department of Competition for violation of competition law by PPL in relation to preventing the expansion of infrastructure in Modlin Airport and anti-competitive behaviour.

[DublinPole]

Modlin Airport has now released a statement claiming that the Polish Press Agency, 100% owned by the state - has released a statement full of erroneous data in relation to the airport finances and performance and operations and it is very unhappy with these incorrect claims that have been made to the media by the PPA.

https://www.modlinairport.pl/aktualnosc/oswiadczenie-mazowieckigo-portu-lotniczego-warszawa-modlin-sp-z-oo

[DublinPole]

Polish Air Navigation Services Agency has now abruptly resigned from the construction of a new Modlin flight control tower (current, temporary, can only operate until the end of the year)

It looks almost certainly that Modlin will be dead very soon to the detriment of Poles.

[Seljuk22]

Despite the news FR wants to grow further at Modlin
https://corporate.ryanair.com/informacje/ryanair-zaprasza-lot-do-modlina/?market=pl

[Plane.Silly]

A random thought. If both Modlin and Ryanair wants to, preverbally (stick 2 fingers up at everyone), why not let Ryanair fund a new tower in exchange for zero fees for 5/10 years?

An idea so crazy, MOL may just consider it (if the purse strings weren't so tight)

[TBSC]

PANSA can shut down their radios, ATC equipement, ILS etc. as it all belongs to them. Modlin bought themselves an ILS a long time ago which was not approved by PANSA "as this type of ILS was not operated in the country before".

Mind you this is a country where not a single CAT III ILS is in use for 40 million residents and ~20 sizeable commercial airports. WAW has one for more than a year now which is constantly NOTAMed unavailable as it's not approved to be used as CAT III by the authorities for being "too dangerous". Anything can happen here.

[DublinPole]

As well as the recent introduction of a night flight ban, the next change will involve a total ban on refueling with passengers on-board in Warsaw Chopin Airport which will make the airport further unattractive for low cost carriers.

As per all other recent changes, the people to suffer will be the low cost carriers biting at the heals of LOT and the airline who suffers the least, again will be LOT. Maybe they will simply ban pink at the airport soon and get it over and done with.

The problem is PPL are solely looking after LOT. It's ridiculously protectionist and pretty much all the changes in Chopin in the last few years have hit LOT's biggest competitors the most and hit LOT the least - of course they will say it's a total co-incidence but we all know better than that.

There's still a stalemate at Modlin which is simply a ticking timer before it closes and coupled with PPL making life difficult for Wizz at Chopin, the end game will probably be LOTs biggest two competitors being chased out of the city since sadly the position of LOT seems to be far more important than the market as a whole.

It will be in both FR/W6 interest that Modlin survives and becomes independent of PPL, since Wizz are being chased out of Chopin right now with more and more measures being used that him them the most, and if Modlin dies then W6 will have to go to Radom which is what the end-game here for PPL is.

[Charlie Roy]

https://www.aviation24.be/airports/warsaw-chopin/iata-solidarity-airport-warsaws-new-projected-airport-is-a-strategic-project/

A new airport for Warsaw?
Unclear whether the intention is that it will replace or compliment Chopin and Modlin...?